Title: Love Me (Like I'm Not Made of Stone)

Genre: Movies

Series: The Hobbit

Characters: Fili, Sigrid, Kili, Tauriel, Thorin, Fem!Bilbo

Spoilers: N/A

Rating: PG-13 to R (Mature)

Summary: Events didn't turn out as expected, and the ripple effect cascades over all things.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Manic marathon of all six movies results in authoress becoming obsessed with Hobbit fanfiction. Please note that in my stories, fem!Bilbo is played by Carey Mulligan. (Think Suffragette/Far From The Madding Crowd.) These will be all in the same universe, not always chronological and not always focusing on the same people. Some couples will happen quickly, some will not. Some will be hinted at but won't come to fruition. This is what happens when the line of Durin survives the battle, and the line of Girion falls.

Battle of the Four Armies

The shores of the lake were covered in debris and bleeding people and she knew somewhere in her head that there must be ear-splitting cacophony surrounding her, but she couldn't hear any of it. In her mind, Sigrid was still back in that boat, cradling her sister and watching the wooden tower fall, taking her father and brother with it. She wasn't sad, not yet, it was still shock that made her blind and deaf to the suffering of her neighbors and friends around her.

"Sigrid?"

Tilda held tightly to her arm, her face pressed into Sigrid's ribs as if by not seeing it, it wasn't real. She was too young for this, she had no memories of grief so strong and all encompassing that every bone in your body shook from the force of it. Sigrid knew it, though; she remembered the passing of her mother and how not even the daylight could break the darkness. Her father doing his duty for his children by day, drowning in drink at night, and she was left the pick up the pieces, always left to pick up the pieces.

"Sigrid?"

Her hands were shaking, the knuckles scraped and bleeding, a headache pulsing in her temple. She closed her eyes and willed the blur of tears from her eyes. A small sniffle escaped her but when she opened her eyes again, she could see once more. "We need to help the wounded," she announced, turning her head to talk to the group beside her. "Do any of you know how to heal?"

She worked side by side with the elf, moving from person to person, never able to give more than a small comforting smile that was tinged with sadness. He knew nothing of healing, but he followed her from place to place, helping to move the injured and fetching things as she requested. Tilda eventually shifted from her sister's side to his own, even climbing up onto his back so that she wasn't underfoot.

"Tilda, get down. I'm sure Fili doesn't want you-"

"She's fine," he insisted, patting Sigrid's shoulder awkwardly as he handed her the blankets he'd just torn from Alfrid's hands, glaring at the cretin until he'd run away. "Kili was much the same when he was her age."

"Oh! I need to go check on him," Sigrid said with a blush, passing the blankets to one of the other townspeople and rushing out of the tent.

"Tauriel has checked on him several times, she says he is healing quickly and fine," Fili reassured her, reaching out to grasp her arm before she could rush off somewhere else. "Come, you need to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, I am and Tilda is, so we're eating," he explained, unconsciously sliding his larger hand down her slim arm until he could grasp her hand. He remembered doing so in Laketown, taking her hand and helping her into the boat as they tried to flee. He also remembered the horror in her silence as they watched the town burn and take so many people with it.

Tilda tugged at his beard as she adjusted her hold on his shoulders, pressing her face into his hair and holding him tighter as they moved through the crowds. There was a small area designated for meals, people trying to pull together enough supplies to feed what remained of the town. Fili pulled her through the line and then to the outskirts, sitting with her in the brittle grass to eat what was generously described as porridge.

Sigrid ate mindlessly, staring vacantly at the crowds, startling when Tilda slid into her lap to eat her own porridge, which she did so with more energy.

"I don't know what to do, Fili," she whispered, so quiet that Tilda didn't hear but he did. "There is no family anywhere else, we've always been here. This is our home. This was our home."

"You're not alone. We're here."

She smiled bitterly. "For how long? Oin has already mentioned going up the mountain to rejoin your company when Kili is better able to move. I have to think of Tilda, and where we're going to go, what we're going to do. The nights are already growing colder and the closest town is all the way down in East Bight. That's a week's walk, through the woods, through the cold, and we've no supplies."

"You're welc-"

"No," Sigrid interrupted, glaring at him with a bit of the fire she'd shown in Laketown, before everything had changed. "I am a child of man and I would not be welcome in the mountain. Don't even say it."

The fires were burning down, but Fili moved from one to the next, laying more wood down to keep them going through the night. It almost feels like penance, forgoing his sleep to try and keep these few people warm and alive through the night. Guilt was a knot in his chest that he couldn't ease.

He circled back around to improvised tent where his kin slept, pausing in the shadows when he noticed that Sigrid stood outside speaking with one of the townsmen. It was so late and quiet that their words carried clearly to him.

"...we'll leave in two days, before the winter cold really sets in. We have gathered what we can for supplies, food and clothing, blankets. Have you thought of my offer? I would take good care of you and your sister, you need only give me the chance."

Sigrid clenched her hands, a sure sign that she was uncomfortable. "My father denied you for a reason, Sam. He did not believe us a good match. I would honor his wisdom even in death."

"Without protection, Sigrid, many things can happen to a woman. Not all men are as kind as I am, some would not give you a choice," the man explained. Fili felt his anger begin to churn, easily rising and overwhelming the guilt that was his ever present companion.

"I am aware of what men are capable of, you need not remind me," she swore back, her own anger snarling her lips. "I will take care of Tilda and myself, I need no protection."

Fili stepped into the light of the fire, scuffing his feet on the ground to warn her that he approached. He hoped that his own feelings on the matter were not clear on his face. "Is there a problem?"

"No, Fili," she reassured, "Sam was just leaving."

The dwarves moved quickly, packing their few things into a boat they'd scavenged from the ruins of Laketown. Sigrid knew they planned to follow the river as far up the hills as they could before they'd start their hike for the doors of Erebor. Kili stood to the side, speaking earnestly with the wood elf, his heart on his sleeve, but Sigrid knew it would do no good. Tauriel's sense of duty was as strong as her own, to the detriment of their hearts.

Tilda held her hand lightly, staring down at the two bags that contained all they had in this world and not at her dwarvish friends who were preparing to leave. She knew her baby sister was crying, feeling alone but she wasn't sure how to fix it when she herself felt more alone with each passing minute. They too would have to start their journey soon, East Bight was waiting. Sigrid's feet hurt just imagining the long walk down there, and there was a fear that made her fingers tremble as she could only hope there would be work for a mediocre seamstress when they arrived. She could perhaps serve in a bar, but worst case scenario, maybe she would have to marry to prov-

Fili picked her up and threw her over his shoulder without warning, stomping down towards the boat without so much as a word to her. "Tilda, get in the boat," he ordered, tossing the girls' bags in the hull where their own dwarven bags sat. The girl obeyed with an excited squeal, talking animatedly with Oin about the abandoned city they were traveling to.

"Put me down this instant, Fili Durinson!" They were making a spectacle of themselves, the few townspeople that had not already started to leave glancing back with concern. "You cannot do this!"

"I can and am. Your father gave his life to kill the dragon. The line of Durin owes a life debt to you and we will repay it. You will be safe in the mountain," Fili explained, his hand resting indecently high on her leg as he used his immense leg strength to push the boat off short and into the water. "Kili! We're leaving!"

His brother joined them with a heavy pout, cocking his head at her from where she rested indignantly on Fili's shoulder. "I didn't know we were stealing young women. Here I was trying charm when I should've tried force," he remarked sardonically, glancing back at the departing elves' backs as they disappeared into the forest and took his heart with them.

"I'm not stealing-"

"This is kidnapping-"

"I know what men are capable of-"

"Fili, you put me down right-"

"Their cruelty, their hunger-"

"You are not my father! You cannot decide for me!"

He dropped her to the boat, the vessel bouncing back and forth and swaying as they slowly drifted further from shore. "I am Prince of the Mountain, and depending on what we find, I might be King of the Mountain when we get up there. I say you are welcome there, I say you are coming. To let you leave with men who threaten you in the night with-" he paused, glancing down at her sister before reining his temper back in. "Men who threaten you would bring dishonor to my line."

Sigrid swallowed heavily, reaching up to cup his cheeks in her shaking hands. "Nothing will happen, he wasn't threatening, he was warning me. Not all men are like that."

"But enough are that you are not safe. You're coming."

Thorin welcomed them with manic energy, even going so far as to take Sigrid's hand and give condolence for her father and brother's deaths, but there was an edge in his eyes that she didn't like. She slipped behind Fili, pulling Tilda with her and fisted her hand in the back of his jerkin. She recognized danger when she saw it, knew when greed clouded common sense. She could sense the unease in the dwarves as they unconsciously sensed the same thing.

"We begin our search for the arkenstone now that we're all here. I must have it," Thorin avowed, gesturing back into the dark of the tomb like entrance hall. "I can feel it, how close it is to me."

Fili tensed under her hand, and she leaned forward to whisper in Fili's ear, only having to lean down a scant inch or two to get close. "What is the arkenstone?"

Not quiet enough however, as Thorin's eyes shot over to her and darkened with malice. "It is the heart of the mountain. It is mine."

Fili held his hands up in surrender, stepping back and pushing Sigrid and Tilda even further behind him. "I will find quarters for the women. They will not join us in our search."

"That would be best," Thorin agreed, his eyes following the movements of the trio. Balin stepped forward, whispering to his liege and distracting him as the three of them stepped out of sight.

"What's wrong with him?" Tilda asked. "He was cranky before, but now he's just mean."

Fili sighed. "I'm not sure, but I'll find out." They followed him through the dark halls, slowly climbing higher and higher into the mountain. "I'm looking for the royal quarters, but I've never actually been here so I'm not completely certain where they are. My mum described this place in detail though, so I think I know."

The stone under their feet became coated in marble, smooth but dusty under their shoes. Fili guided them down several more halls before stopping and peaking in a room. "This one will work. As heir to the throne, I can choose which chambers I'd like."

It was dark inside, the only light coming in from a long sliver of an opening in the far wall. Sigrid dropped their things inside the door and moved closer, realizing that it was a balcony of sorts, rock forming a roof and the railing, and the opening a window cut out of the mountain to overlook the valley below. They were very, very high up, the old structures of her home just a distant blemish on the lake below.

A loud crash within the room behind her make her jump, and she spun around to find Fili smashing furniture. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to start a fire for you before I head back down. I think it best you stay here in the meantime, I don't trust how my uncle is looking. The plumbing should be working, though, if you want to clean things up a bit," he explained, tossing bits of the chair into the fireplace and pulling out some flint.

"What's plumbing?"

Fili grinned. "I'll show you, I think you're going to like it."

Fili sighed heavily, tossing his head left and right to crack the tension from it. He tossed the exquisitely crafted golden chalice back onto the pile and stood, observing his kin as they too searched through the seemingly endless piles of gold in search of the Arkenstone. "I'm done." He spoke louder, so his voice carried. "This...this just feels useless."

His kin nodded and watched him go, but didn't say anything in return, only turned back to sifting. As heir he had more leeway than they did, but he knew they too felt this was going to be fruitless. There was simply too much to search and more important matters that needed to be attended to.

Thorin stood at the door, speaking quietly to their hobbit burglar who looked to be pleading with him. Her hands gestured to the treasury, the curls of her hair bouncing as her words echoed. "Where are your senses, Thorin? It's like a needle in a haystack, you'll never find it."

"Without it, I cannot rule. It shows my divine right to be King under the Mountain," Thorin argued back. "I will have it before we do anything else."

"Your kin need to eat, need rest. We are living in a tomb, with only death and gold and you're blinded by it," Bella swore back at him. "How do you expect to last through winter if you don't start preparing!"

"We will prepare when-"

"When you have the Arkenstone, I heard you. Sometimes I wonder if you can hear yourself, though," she cut in. "I'm going to help Bombur clean the kitchens. Give me one of the dwarves to help hunt, please. So that we at least have dinner tonight, even if we have nothing for a month from now."

"I have already split them up, some at the gate repairing and some looking here. I have none to spare," Thorin replied coldly.

"I will assist you, Bella," Fili offered, sliding down the dune of coins to stop just beside them. "I need a break from this place, and I think Sigrid and Tilda wouldn't mind a walk."

Thorin protested, "I need you here."

"And I need a break, I will return shortly, uncle, don't fear," he offered, trying to sound cajoling when his every instinct was telling him to leave this place. "Come, Bella, show me where you think I'll be able to trap something."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Sigrid watched her sister run among the tall grass of the hill, singing a song to herself that Sigrid knew she'd made up on the spot. It was nice to see Tilda so free, able to shake off the gloom of the mountain and the grief of losing their family and home so easily. It made it more palatable for her to push down her own sadness and try to live. "Like what?"

Fili sighed, sitting down beside her under the tree. "Miserable, cold, oppressive. My mother spoke of Erebor like the mountain was alive, the way the gems sparkled in firelight, the energy in the air, the camaraderie of being surrounded by your people with no hardship to speak of, just hard work and good fun. But Thorin...I believe him sick with madness, the mountain holds no comfort, and I worry for the winter to come."

Sigrid leaned over, bumping her shoulder against his. "I have been gathering food while you all worked. Tilda and I, we come out here and gather vegetables, packing them away in one of the cupboards. There's a fruit orchard over the hill, likely abandoned by the elves. It won't last long, but I'm trying to figure out a way to cultivate a garden inside. Our best option is the grow new food, since anything we gather won't last long enough to survive winter."

Fili smiled at her and Sigrid pretended it didn't affect her as much as it did. "You're very smart. You didn't have to do that."

"I did. You've all been very kind, to take us in. I want to...help any way I can." She paused before continuing, "What are you going to do about Thorin? You saw Laketown, a broken leader will drag everyone down with him."

"Bella has been trying to break through to him, if anyone has a chance it will be her. He views the rest of us as...threats. Especially me since I am his heir. I have seen him reach for his dagger without realizing when I come near."

Sigrid reached over and grasped his arm, "Are you in danger? We could leave. There is still time to make it down to Bight before the first snow."

"I will not abandon my uncle when he is ill," Fili denied, but still reached up and covered her hand with his. "It may be that we will all have to leave, though. It feels...like the mountain itself is riddled with disease and it's slowly infecting us all. Maybe the dragon left more than just his stench behind, maybe he left his evilness too."

Sigrid nodded, scooting closer so that she could lay her head upon his shoulder. She couldn't name the exact point in time when she'd become so comfortable with him, with the casual touching the dwarves were fond of, but she didn't mind having him so close. It was nice to have a friend to rely on during these turbulent times.

Tilda stopped spinning in the field, cocking her head as she studied something in the distance. "Look, Sig! Elves are coming!"

Fili stood alone in a room just off the main hall, gathering armor to wear. The echoing noises of banging at the door drift down to him but he ignores it in favor of speaking quietly to her. "Remember the passage I showed you yesterday, if the wall is breached take it and run. Don't head south to East Bight, you'll run right into the Dain's army. Head west to the forest, the elves will take you in at least long enough to get you to the other side of Mirkwood. Their army is here, so they will not want to fight or jail you."

He struggled with the chest armor, unable to reach to the back to latch it on, so Sigrid stepped over and did it for him. Even through the heavy metal, she could feel him shaking. "And from there?"

"Head for the Shire. It will take you a long time to get there, months even, but I assume after Bella gave the Arkenstone to Gandalf that she went home. She liked you, she'll help you. It's not a bad place to live, very green, lots of farmland. It's peaceful there."

Sigrid picked up a heavy gauntlet, turning him so that she could place it on his wrist. "I will wait here for you, until I can no longer wait." She picked up the other gauntlet, repeating the process. "I promise, but I want a promise from you, too."

Fili waited until she'd finished tying the laces, tucking them inside where they wouldn't get caught on his blades. "What promise?"

"Survive, Fili. I want you to survive," Sigrid ordered. "You owe me a life debt, I expect you to be around to fulfill it."

"Aye," he agreed, and they stood entirely too close to one another for several seconds. Her hair had fallen down in her rush to main hall, blonde strands sliding over her shoulders. He'd never seen her hair down like that, it made her look...undone. Younger than she seemed, and soft in a way that her strength often belied. He reached for a sheath on the wall, gripping her waist and turning her from him before looping the belt around her hips twice, the dagger weighing heavily against her side. "Just in case."

He allowed himself five seconds of touching her, her waist soft but firm under his large fingers, her hair smelling of violets as it floated in front of his face, before he turned and joined the fight.

For the first time in weeks, Fili felt hope again. Thorin had broken through the dragon's sickness, reavowed his dedication to his people, and they'd headed into battle. Despite their smaller numbers they'd pushed back the orcs and the wargs, pulled the elves out of Dale and into the fight, and even now they chased the pale Orc on Ravenhill. Dain and his kin were at their backs and Thorin at their head, as their rightful King, Arkenstone or not, everyone could see that.

Fili slipped down the hall, Kili at his back. They can hear Azog ahead and Kili gestured that they should separate but Fili wasn't sure. There was a chance they could corner the orc leader, but they were always stronger together than apart and with so few of them here and so many of the orcs around he just didn't know what to do.

He thought of Sigrid and Tilda back at the mountain, standing on the balcony and watching the fight below. He knew Sigrid would have packed their things, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Her strength seemed to know no end, her spirit indomitable in the face of loss. She would survive without him, he knew, he'd never doubted. That didn't mean she should have to.

Fili grabbed Kili's arm and pulled him back, not a second too soon as a group of orcs ran past. "We stay together. There is too much at stake."

Sigrid knew the battle was over when the night grew quiet. Not silent, but quiet, where the only sounds were the pitiful moaning of injured left on the field by their compatriots. Elves made quick work of orc and warg survivors with their silver blades, the small flash of moonlight on the sword as it sliced down the only sign of life on the field.

Tilda had fallen asleep hours ago, curled up on the bed, hands over her ears, crying silently. Sigrid had been unable to offer comfort because she had none to give, at least not then. The battle had stopped now, the mountain remained unbreached, and the only question that remained was... who was left?

Sigrid stood at the window of their quarters and watched the slow procession of dwarves into the keep. She knew it was them only by the torches in their hands and their short stature, and the fact that they came in so brazenly. The elves kept their distance from the doors, even after joining forces in the battle, she imagined them afraid that a wrong move would set off another fight.

The door opened behind her, the rush of cooler air from the window blowing past her and towards the new opening and dissipating in the hall outside. She turned to the intruder, smiling as she saw who it was. "I did not expect to see you again."

Tauriel smiled back, "I did not expect to be here. Fili has asked me to retrieve you, they have need of you downstairs. There are many injured."

"Is he..." Sigrid trailed off, walking quickly to her bag and pulling out what little medical supplies she had. "How bad are they?"

"Thorin is the worst, but I believe he'll live. Kili and Fili have a few injuries, but nothing a few months won't heal," Tauriel explained. "I will leave one of my kin here for Tilda, but there is much to do this night."

"It will take longer than a night to heal from this," Sigrid pointed out, "best we get started now."

Next chapter: Thorin.